Page 125 of Dhampira

Are you a tool or a blade?

I went to the washbasin, catching my reflection in the mirror as I passed. My lips were red, and my hair was as tangled as my thoughts. Stripping off my clothes, I washed the traces of passion from my body. When I straightened, my face stared back at me from the water.

“A blade,” I told it.

25

Dawn arrived long before I was ready.

Probably because I spent the remainder of the night in fitful unrest, my mind spinning from one dilemma to the next. But the start of a new day brought no solutions as I stood at the balcony, watching the stars twinkle in the purple sky. The wedding was in four days, and I had no idea how to get out of it. Lorcan and I needed to talk. Today, I’d speak to him in the Everless.

The merman spewed water into the air. Behind him, the maze stretched to the horizon. It had switched from the forest sometime in the night. Delphine was still absent. Memories of the dungeon surfaced in my mind. Had she toiled there in the night, dragging prisoners on the brink of death back to life so Rasimir could devour them? Was the pixie’s sister still alive, or had Rasimir killed her like he’d killed her brother?

The answer came at once. No. The woman had been angry when Delphine had healed her. She’d wanted to die. Rasimir would force her to live as long as possible, denying her the very thing she craved.

A giant, snowy-white bird swooped across the courtyard and landed next to the merman. Gripping the railing, I leaned forward, my eyes locked on the winged creature.

The bird formed into Delphine in a swirl of white feathers. I froze, my heart pounding, as she looked around and then darted into the hedges. Before I could even think of what to do next, an enormous wolf bolted from the shadows beneath the balcony, raced across the courtyard, and plunged into the maze.

No, not a wolf. A werewolf. He—or she—had followed Delphine. I had to warn her.

Spinning from the balcony, I rushed through my chamber, only to stop halfway to the door. I couldn’t leave in my nightgown. Darting to the armoire, I rifled through my dresses. Red flashed, and I stopped with my fingers on the dragonstone gown.

The dragons were true shape-shifters. They could take any form they chose.

My heart sped up as I flung off my nightgown and pulled the dress over my head. Then I squeezed my eyes shut and concentrated. I need something that will hide me from the guards. Actually, everyone. I need you to hide me from everyone.

Change swept down the dress, the stones sinking into the fabric and then fading from sight. More fabric bunched at my neck, and I rushed to the mirror in time to see a hood swell from the collar and drape down my back. The dress covered me from neck to toe, the black material glittering. But was it invisible?

I looked at the door. One way to find out.

Pulling the hood over my head, I shoved my feet into slippers, then went to the door and cracked it open. The corridor was empty. I stepped into it and eased the door shut behind me, my ears pricked for sounds of approaching servants or guards. When the silence held, I hurried to the stairs.

One floor down, voices drifted around the corner. Panic gripped me as I darted my gaze left and right, searching for a hiding place. But only plain walls greeted me. There were no suits of armor, no tapestries. The corridor stretched empty in both directions, with no alcoves or doorways to duck into.

A man and a woman rounded the corner. The woman’s wig was askew, her pile of powdered curls balancing precariously on her head. Blood stained the front of the man’s jacket. He clutched a bottle of blood-wine in one hand and a riding crop in the other.

My breath seized in my lungs. I was caught. I’d ruined everything.

The woman stumbled. “Fuck,” she gasped, staggering sideways and slapping a hand against the nearest wall. Her breasts heaved above her silk bodice as she steadied herself.

The man paused, blood-wine sloshing from the rim of his bottle. “Hurry up,” he slurred. “I’m exhausted.”

She bared her fangs at him as she straightened. “From what? Drinking and fucking all night?” She eyed his riding crop, a cruel smile playing on her bright red lips. “Although it wasn’t all night, was it, dear? I paid attention. You plowed half a dozen servants, and that wine bottle was the only thing that stayed hard.”

He raised a brow as he swished the crop, sending a whistling sound into the air. When the woman’s smile widened, he took a swig of blood-wine, his eyes never leaving hers.

Neither of them looked at me. I held my breath as the man swaggered toward the woman.

“You sound jealous, Tomasina,” he said, a suggestive smile quirking his lips. He cupped his groin as he neared her. “You hungry for some of this, love?”

Ugh.

She giggled, her bloodstained fangs showing, then she flung her arms around his neck and gazed up at him. “Starving.”

With a laugh, he flung aside his crop, then bent and hoisted her over his shoulder. She squealed, slapping at his back, but her laughter rang in the corridor as he started forward with a determined look on his face. Her wig fell to the ground as he swept past me, his bloodshot eyes sweeping over me as if I didn’t exist.

I held my breath until their drunken laughter faded. Then I released it in a rush, relief slumping my shoulders. The cloak worked. I was as good as invisible—and I had to reach Delphine.